Northern China’s Hebei, home to seven of the country’s 10 smoggiest cities, has pledged to double up its efforts to tackle hazardous pollution following an environment ministry report accusing the province of failing to rein in law-breaking industries, Reuters reports. Hebei, which surrounds the capital Beijing and is responsible for about a quarter of China’s total steel output, is one of the front lines in a “war on pollution” designed to head off growing public disquiet about the environmental impact of three decades of untrammelled industrial growth. In May, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) said steelmakers and coal-fired power generators in Hebei were violating state guidelines by continuing to expand, while some local firms were also involved in “fraudulent practices” aimed at circumventing pollution rules.
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